A/N: Well I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter, I tried to make everything make sense and tie well into each other. Feel free to leave any comments, reviews, feedback anything at all, I am always glad to hear from anyone :). This chapter has been edited to its current version by my beta MionellSparlockineco and myself.
As usual I do not own Harry Potter or the world and characters chreated by J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Or their respective partners, nor any of the trade marks or any other such properties associated with the Harry Potter Franchise. I only own this story that they partake in. Anyway back to the show shall we.
Albus stared at the two figures inside the golden cocoon, he knew them both well, though this was not something he had expected. He had been summoned due to his role as Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards. He would have to bear witness to the forming of this soul bound, he wondered how Harry could have been chosen. He sighed and turned to look at the others who had also been summed.
He was relieved to see that the magic of the bond had summoned a master on this particular subject. He immediately began to approach the cocoon with Fillius as the two figures inside dissolved, fusing into one single undefinable mass as they were pulled deep within to learn all that they would ever need to know and decide on their type of bond. He hoped that it would not be too late and that perhaps, depending on the type of bond the two chose, they would have a way to postpone the formalization of the bond for a few years.
He turned to look down at his Charms Professor who looked up at him in utter bewilderment. Fillius shook his head and together they turned to look at the remainder of the group who by now were beginning to realize others were there and who they were.
Albus was not surprised to see both the Minister for Magic and the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement her as well as a lead member of the Unspeakables from the Department of Mysteries. It was always a legal matter when these things happened. He also noted surprisingly that Harry's relatives and Hermione's parents had both been summed and were now being attended to by Minerva who would have been brought into this due to her being their temporary guardian while at school.
He sighed, this was going to complicate matters greatly. He knew that the two teenagers had been friends since their first year, he had watched them grow and learn together. He often had wondered if any kind of romantic relationship would have formed between the two of them, now if he were correct he would finally have his answer to that puzzle.
He turned to see the other figures who had been summoned, there were the heads of three of the great houses who he knew to be allied with Harry's House, his own also close over the years. Augusta Longbottom stood proudly in her normal firm appearance to the world, Xylophilus Lovgood was as odd as always and surprisingly Lord Rothbert Greengrass stood in his own proud and demeaning manner.
Finally his eyes fell upon the last two figures in the group, Remus he had expected to be summoned based on his own personal relationship with Harry's parents. He had wondered when Remus would finally give in and begin to get to know his friend's son at long last. He smiled as he wondered how Harry felt regarding his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, thus far the overall sense of the staff and students regarding their new colleague and Professor was of approval for his methods and his overall personality.
He felt his heart splutter at the sight of the last figure, drawn and gaunt, nearly skeletal in clothes that sagged on the once handsome and vibrant man. He stared as he began to understand what Sirius's appearance would mean. He would have to wait to speak with Mr. Black to find out more, at least for now due to the bonding Sirius would not have to worry about the law or being escorted back to Azkaban on sight.
"What on Earth is going on here Dumbledore!" Barked Fudge as he barged forth, taking in the sight of everything and everyone. "BLACK!"
"Cornelius, as you can see we have all been summoned here due to the forming of a Soul Bond." Albus stated softly, not rising to his friend's means. "Mr. Black has full immunity while he is here Minister, he was summoned due to the forming of this bond, a summing of which will be an astounding piece of evidence in his now open and under investigation case."
Amelia Bones turned to him, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. "New evidence?" She asked as he calmly smiled and nodded to her in greeting.
"The forming of a Soul Bond is a very strange and not fully understood magic." Fillius said as he stood close to Albus. "One thing the bond does is summon those who are of import to the Magical world as well as those who hold full legal authority, those who are the guardians or parents of any minors to whom a bond is formed and people who were extremely close to the parents and who could very well have ended up with guardianship of one of those minors. Lastly it will try to summon someone who has studied and who has at least to some extent mastered this branch of magic through diligent study."
Albus nodded as more of the group began to join the conversation. "Here is where the new evidence will come in." Albus said as he continued to look directly at Lupin and Sirius. "The magic can only summon someone who has been magically imprisoned under two conditions. They have to have been the listed legal guardian in the Will of the parents of one of the parties in the bond, or they have to have undergone the Godfather ritual which binds their life and soul to the protection and guardianship of that child."
Amelia gasped in shock at the realization that Black could be innocent. She knew immediately that his being listed as the Legal Guardian of Harry Potter would already have approved his summoning. She knew also and even more surely that due to the nature of the brotherhood, not just friendship, shared between James and Sirius that Sirius would have insisted that if he was to be Harry's godfather he would undergo the Ritual.
McGonagall and the four muggles were motioning for him to join them as he watched the Minister, Amelia and the representative from the Department of Mysteries realize that due to this Sirius may be an innocent man. He quickly extricated himself from the group and joined his Deputy.
"Good evening" He said pleasantly, smiling politely at the Dursleys and the Grangers who seemed to have very different opinions on what was a good evening.
"Good evening Professor Dumbledore" The Grangers greeted after Minerva introduced him to his brightest pupil's parents.
"Why are we here!" Vernon demanded at his own introduction.
"I am afraid that matter is yet to be determined." he answered still in his soft, polite voice. "I am sure the matter will be determined soon."
Minerva raised her eyebrow. "Why were we summoned here Albus!"
He sighed, "This is a delicate matter Minerva." He said softly, "It appears that Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger have developed a Soul Bond, that is why we have all been summoned."
Minerva stared at him in shock. "S-so young?" she asked.
He nodded, "There is no control over when they will begin, or who will be chosen during their lifetimes."
She frowned, "Well, at least it was the two of them."
Yvonne Granger stared between the two of them and then at her husband Peter. "You mean our daughter and that boy are bound to each other?"
Albus smiled softly, "It is a poor term for the matter, but yes they are bound together soul and mind for the rest of their lives." He said as he turned to face Hermione's mother.
She nodded and sighed, "Well, at least he is her best friend." She said as she sniffed a little.
"Friend, as if anyone would be friends with a Freak!" Petunia hissed, her dislike of her nephew immediate.
"Excuse me?" Peter asked, turning to stare at the Dursleys as if such a revolting remark had never been uttered near him before.
"You heard me, if your daughter is friends my ungrateful, useless, freak nephew then she must be a Freak too."
Albus sensing the rising situation, stepped in and gently took the Dursleys away, walking with them towards the castle as the rest of the group began to follow. He figured it would be a few hours before he would see his students again.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Harry awoke to find himself on the grass by the lake where he and Hermione had been when...he could not find a way to describe what had happened. He opened his eyes and looked about, the figures that he had seen suddenly emerge around them were gone now. It was nearly nightfall already and he knew that they had to get back into the castle quickly before they were in big trouble.
He found Hermione beside him, she too was looking about trying to determine their new predicament. He smiled softly as he thought back to what had happened after he had found himself in that hallway. It was surreal to find that he found every aspect of her endearing and also found much of himself in her too, though he didn't fully understand all of their similarities yet.
'Well, I guess we better get back up to the castle.' He thought to himself as he began to determine the best way for them not to get into trouble when they returned.
'Harry?' He heard her voice and turned to see that she was watching him, but that she had not spoken aloud.
'Oh, it still works outside of there?' He asked her, shocked that they could still hear each other's thoughts.
She smiled softly as she reached up and gently caressed his cheek. "You will always be able to hear my thoughts." She said softly, "Unless we choose to shield them from each other."
"It's not like that." He said softly as he shook his head. "I love sharing your thoughts."
She smiled softly. "I know, but we can, if we choose to, hide our thoughts from each other. Though we will still be able to continue to hear each other once we no longer wish to hide what we are thinking."
He frowned in thought at this statement. "How do you know this?" He asked, already expecting the answer at least in part.
She shook her head at his addendum. "Yes, I did learn quite a bit about Bonds and Soul Bonds from Professor Flitwick's books on the subject." she stated softly.
He stared at her incredulously, this was news. He didn't know that their Professor was an author, let alone that Soul Bonds, or Bonds of any kind existed before today. She sighed softly and grabbed his hand tugging him along towards the castle as she began to explain everything that she knew.
By the time that they reached the Castle, his head was spinning with thoughts of what she had said. Mental communication appeared to be only one of the many new things that they would be able to do. It was interesting to note that while they could now empower each other's spells, it would still only produce an additional third of the other's overall power level into most spells. He wondered truly just what powers there were that the books did not discuss.
As they stepped into the Entrance Hall, Professor McGonagall greeted them with a polite smile as she motioned for them to follow her. Harry could hear Hermione's panic but tried his best not to allow his on worry of their getting caught in the grounds after nightfall to surface.
Their Head of House lead them to the fifth floor and stopped in front of the statue of a Griffin that Harry knew well. She stated the password and the statue stepped aside, revealing the spiraling staircase that lead to the Head Master's office.
They followed her without a sound as the staircase took them up to the door. She knocked and ushered them in as soon as there was a reply. Harry found the room much as he remembered it, though he had never seen this many people here before.
"Good evening Professor." Harry said as Dumbledore stood and strode around his desk to stand before them.
"Good evening Harry." He said with a gentle smile, "Hermione, it is good to see you both are well."
Harry could feel the penetrating gaze of those blue eyes as the Professor looked them both over, he wondered if there was something Dumbledore was worried about. Finally he stepped back and motioned for them to take the empty loveseat that had been summed when they entered.
They settled down and waited for whatever was about to happen to begin. She had explained some of the ritual and ceremony to him, but there was quite a bit she did not know herself as she was willing to admit. It did not take long for everything to settle around the room.
"So, do you understand what has happened to the two of you?" Dumbledore asked as he glanced around the room, waiting to see if anyone else would have anything to say.
Hermione nodded as she stated what she had come to understand through her own self study on magic. She pointed out that most of what she had read had in fact been in the books that their Charms Professor had written. As she finished her explanation of what she understood Dumbledore beamed at her and he turned to address the tiny Professor.
"I believe you have an avid admirer Fillius." He said with a gentle chuckle. "I must admit that while I have done research on the Bonds that can be made between souls, Filius is the far wiser on this subject than I."
Professor Flitwick nodded and took the floor as he began to describe in more detail exactly what, at least to his own and the overall general understanding, a Soul Bond was and the types that could be formed. He explained some of them simply as there was little he could add that was not already self explanatory.
"The last and most rarest of all Soul Bonds." he said as he came to the final topic. "Is the Soul Mate Bond, it is when two souls who were once one are reunited again."
Harry listened in amazement as the Professor began to describe that while anything to do with the Soul, in relation to magic still meant Magic, the Soul and what it could do was far beyond full comprehension by anyone. He explained how while many of the powers that were granted to those that shared a bond had been documented, there were many more that had been lost or not recorded at all.
"It is the rarest and truest form, because it ties them together as one forever." Flitwick continued his instruction. "They will now and forever be a single 'Soul' residing in one body. They will still be two individuals, but never separate again in any means. They share magical cores, they share each other's very lives."
Harry looked up at this. "What do you mean Professor?" He asked pointedly.
"Precisely this, you and Miss Granger will continue to live a long and healthy, happy life together." He said softly, understanding the confusion of his words. "You will both live so long as the other is alive. Should either of you die, you both will die."
Harry found this unsettling, he knew that even if he were to die he would not wish for her to. She quietly shushed him and stated that they would discuss this matter later.
"Have you both decided on the type of Bond that you wish to form?" Dumbledore asked as he watched the pair of them over the rims of his halfmoon spectacles.
"Yes Professor." They answered, turning to their Charms Professor again.
"You are the only one in this room with the knowledge to perform this ritual, otherwise the binding of our souls would not have summoned you correct Professor?"
"Yes Miss Granger, I am the only one in Britain sanctioned to perform Soul Bond Rituals, especially if you are wishing to perform the Soul Mate Bond."
Together they nodded, "What else will change, aside from ourselves?" Hermione asked as she looked about the room taking in the faces of those around.
Harry felt her stiffen as she saw her parents, he had recognized them immediately from the rooms in the Hall. He felt her longing to go and hug them, to let them know that this was what she wanted, that there was nothing bad with this.
The Professors watched as her parents stood and came to hug their daughter, gently assuring her that they understood everything. Dumbledore and Flitwick had described it all as best as they could and they had understood.
"We don't know you yet." Peter Granger said as he gently shook Harry's hand. "But I am sure we will love you like the son we never had, but if you ever hurt our daughter you will answer to me."
Harry smiled softly, taking the older man's warning to heart. "I will never hurt her sir." He said with as much conviction and determination as he could muster.
Peter chuckled softly, "I know you will do your best not to try, that is what matters."
Harry nodded and sighed as he felt Hermione watching the exchange with interest and he could feel her own sigh. Together they turned back to face the Professors, he had noticed his Aunt and Uncle there as well but he had no wish to speak to them at all.
As Professor Flitwick was beginning to start the preparations for their bond, a chair from behind them sounded as someone stood. Turning Harry was shocked to find that the man whom he had heard so many rumors and warnings about was standing there smiling at him.
"Hello Harry." Sirius said, he looked cleaner than he had in the Daily Prophet, it also seemed as if he had been receiving better nurishment and care.
"Mr. Black." Harry said, unsure why this man was addressing him in such a friendly manner.
Sirius stared at him dumbfounded as he continued to watch him in confusion. "Harry, do you know who I am?"
Harry nodded, "You're Sirius Black, mass murderer and escaped convict." he stated, watching as the man before him smirked.
"Well, you have part of it correct." he said as he looked beyond Harry back to Dumbledore with a frown. "Harry, I am your Godfather."
Harry stared at the man, he had heard the words but he could not understand them. He simply looked at the man stupidly, he needed answers...now.
"You..what?" He said.
Well, I hope you enjoyed the new chapter, as always thank you so much for the reviews, comments, questions, I am always grateful for any criticism you all may have and I am glad to hear that you are enjoying the story thus far. Well, until next chapter, enjoy!